Last weeki got on a plane and flew many, many miles westwhere there is much snow on the favorite mountains.

The next dayas the morning broke

we climbed into the car and drove for half a day southdeeper into the desertto visit our other sisterwhere it was balmyand little narcissus were in full flower

i believe this little daffodil is the double form of 'Chinese sacred lily'

Two days laterwe drove backup into the mountainswhere the evening air was chilly yet soft

then stood in security lines once moreand flew home.Two days lateri got in the car and spent the weekend at Greenwoodwhere there was gentle rain all day Saturdayand the little cluster of coral bark mapleswere wearing their pearls

the older barktakes on an almost golden hue in patches

but it's those brilliant young stemsthat arrest and make one marvel

the photos really are best viewed larger. just click on one to open it in a new, bigger window

there will be just 2 of us that canpick up a phoneor get on a planeto visit in person with each other.

it feels very curious and strange.

As it looks right nowit will be the youngest and the oldest of usto continue muddling about in this "sphere".

i just returned home from visitingthe sister who lives a continent away and is in her final hoursalthoughshe keeps surprising us"rallying" as they say.Gratefully, she stayed long enough for my big sister and me to visitand bask in her smile and sparkling eyes.The state of her mortal being confirms that she will depart, soon.The last 8-9 years have not been kind to her body and mind.

She is 70-something.

So startling to acknowledge that number.

My niecethe one i chased on my hands and knees when she was 2and i was 10is a marvel and a wonder:she teaches high school "home economics" (or whatever they call it now)full timeand has been the one to drive her mother, my sister90 miles one-way to the doctor for chemo and the dozens upon dozens of other visits.She is the one who has held down the fortthe 3 times her father was air-lifted to the hospital for his medical emergencieswhile raising her 4 childrenand juggling crazy family dramas, celebrations and church duties.She laughs easilyit's a family thing we all cherish.It's what has "gotten us through".She is married to a gem of a manwho helped me cross the dividebetween the sister i last visited in 2005 and who she is today.

i sit herehumbled by their reality, their stories, their braverytrying to remember what it wasthat was so importantbefore i got on the plane

You know mei do not tolerate days upon weeks upon monthsof extreme heat and little to no rain. But that's exactly what our summer has been.

Hades rose up from its molten lava pitgrabbed nearly every corner of this vast continent into its deadly, evil embrace and would not it seemedlet go until it sucked the life from every living thing.

i crawled inside my shell weeks agomanaged only to accomplish the bare minimums.

It was not just me and my need for mild summer days and frequent blessings from rain clouds that had me in a stupor.Family members out west had cars packed withemergancy supplies while ash from raging wildfiresrained down upon their homes.

For the most parti've been numb (turns out thateven though people whine loudest in wintermore human lives are lost to extreme heat thanany other natural disaster)and i've learned that numbness has an upside or two:it allows one to focus on small things

and forget the overwhelming and devastating "bigger picture"and stop ranting in frustration that i have zero ability to make a difference nor any idea when or if it the deadly days will end(although ranting can feel pretty good, at least comparedto the suffocating anxiety you've been holding back).One can assume shorter days will cool things offbutwhen would the clouds return with their blessings?

Oh. yes. Before i forget, there is another positive:hauling hose pipe all day longday after dayis a good upper body workout.(For all of July we were focusing on saving trees and shrubslet alone perennials and veg).While standing, wateringhere or at Greenwoodmy eyes clung to any beautious thing

Finally, GOOD NEWS:Fires were "contained"(not put out, merely kept from spreadingit can take many more days to finally knock down a blaze)and no one in my family lost their homeor livelihood to fire.

And on Wednesday, July 17just before some of those family arrived fora planned visit and just before my soul gave up its ghostnorthwest winds finally blew in andpushed Hades back down into that ugly place it belongsat least temporarily.

We sighedWe cheered!We went out and stood in itWe talked of nothing else all day longDinner that night was a feast of thanksgiving.

Then!!A few short days laterall manner of blessings were heaped upon us!

This past MondayJuly 23i drove with visiting family to Liberty State Park and boarded the ferryto visit Ellis Island and cruise past Lady Liberty.

i confessin my frustration with politiciansridiculous governmental interventionsand a populace that is too often apathetic and obliviousi can become cynical about "This Great Nation".However, walking through Ellis Island with eyes openwas a deeply moving experiencebecause you see so many of the incredible faces of those who gave up everythingto come to where things were bettereven if not actually the heaven it was often imagined to be.

(You will forgive me, i hope, for not commenting further re the blessings vs blatant hypocrisies in this, my homeland...i simply do not have the energy for wrestling with such thoughtsand such an exercise would defeat me)

in my numb state(that numbness was not easy to shake offafter all, one good storm doesn't mean "it's all over")i had forgotten to grab my cameraand for the very first time i was grateful for cell phone technologyand what i call "camera phones"because it was there on Ellis Island that i was able to catch a precious little moment of our own family historyas the youngest memberJaycee, Kelly's granddaughterthe little girl she had always hoped forstood up from the ground all by herself for the very first time

It was so exciting!! and we all clapped and laughed and clapped some more

these aren't the best pictures i'll ever takebut they are treasuresbecause the whole time spent with Jaycee and her mom and dadi could feel Kelly with us

and i just love it when young boy cousins love to holdtheir littlest cousin

thenwhen the boat headed toward the statuei must admit ita lump formed in my throat

as i felt very deeplyperhaps for the very first timewhat it must have felt like to see herafter leaving everythingand in so many cases everyonebehind.

Then...i just couldn't help myselfi rejoiced and nearly danced a little jig(except for the fact that we were on a little boat thatwas doing a gentle dance of its own)when i realized that all those rain cloudswere coming from the direction of our home!

Dear Reader,another huge grin spreads across my face as i type the following:we drove home to discover 1.5 inches of water in the rain gauge!!But wait!That's not all!That eveningmore clouds rolled in turning the last hours dark long before sunsetand the heavens opened up once again!!A sunny day followedandtoday: more clouds and gentle rain.

our trees, shrubs, and multitude of living beings and iare very happy to report thatwe can breathe againand for now, at leastlife goes on.